Estevan? Quintana it could not be, because there is not, and there never has been any barber's shop in Quintana; as little could it be Quero, where there is not a house good enough for an hidalgo, scarcely even for a curate or a licentiate El Probencio it could not be, because El Probencio is not in La Mancha; and neither could it be Pedernoso, because if the knight had gone 'from Pedernoso to the place where he encountered the windmills, he must have passed El Toboso, the village of his dulcinea, which would not have been omitted in the history of his sally." I perceived that the barber was a shrewd fellow, a true enthusiast in the work of Cervantes; and desirous of trying to what length the confusion of truth and fiction would carry him, I said, "But you speak of the house of the hidalgo as if he had really existed, and of the barber's shop, as if the barber had in reality consulted with the curate about burning the knight's books, whereas you know" -"Oh I know very well," interrupted the barber, evidently disconcerted;" "but we always speak so here, and if you will step out with me to the corner of the street, I'll show you the identical house." This afforded a curious exemplification of the effect which thought, constantly directed in a wrong channel, may have in warping the judgment; and while I submitted to the operation of shaving, I reflected upon the extraordinary genius of Cervantes, in having drawn fictitious scenes with so much truth as not only to beguile the reader into a temporary belief in their reality, but even to disturb one's settled convictions of truth and falsehood. Let none but bold men trust themselves into the hands of a Spanish barber; his short reign is truly a "reign of terror;" the extraordinary celerity of his motions, and the inconceivable sharpness of his instrument, suggest every instant the idea of "hair-breadth 'scapes," and one glances into the tin basin in a sort of expectation of seeing something more than water in it. It was now dark, and I was still unprovided with a night's lodging; but as I expected, the barber set me at ease. He clapped the little black cap upon his head, which had been uncovered in honour of so illustrious a customer as myself; and bidding me follow him, led the way down the street, and stopped at the door of a house which seemed rather taller and duskier than its neighbours. "This" said he, "is the house, the identical house I spoke of; and here lives the widow of the late Alcalde, who will no doubt treat you well”—and so saying, the barber pushed open the widow's door, and ushered me into a small room evidently the sanctum sanctorum of a devout Catholic, for in one corner, upon a small marble slab, stood an image of the Virgin in a glass case, and a lamp burning before it. The widow, a portly dame clothed in black, and without veil or mantilla, soon entered, with the usual light step, and graceful gait of the Spanish women; and being informed by the barber that I was a stranger, visiting this village because it was the village of Don Quixote, the widow of the Alcalde received me graciously, with many furlings and unfurlings of her fan, and assuring me that her house was at my disposal. In short, I was domesticated in a moment; my respect for her village opened her heart; my veneration for the house she lived in won her altogether; a stew of mutton moderately seasoned with garlic, and some sausages that would have dignified the stall of a London pork butcher, formed the refresco; a conversation, pleasantly sprinkled with the gallantry without which all conversation is vapid in the ear of a Spanish woman, whiled away an hour; and the offer of the Alcalde's widow to give up her own chamber to a stranger of so much distinction, almost led me to think that I had carried my gallantry too far. I am now in bed, in the reputed house of Don Quixote de la Mancha; and in the chamber once occupied by the Hidalgo, or perhaps by his house-keeper, or his niece: and to-morrow, through "the back door of his yard," I shall sally into the fields, when "rosy winged Aurora, stealing from her husband's jealous couch, through the balconies and aerial gates of La Mancha, shall stand confessed to wondering mortals.” SCRAP FROM HORACE. TO A NORTHERN Duke. SUCH splendid pomp is sadly out of place, Why this to me?" you'll answer in a trice; Not one half-crown to sooth the poor man's woe? To feed the hungry, succour the bereft ? Is any worthy man distrest or poor? Why is the cottage roofless? Why, ingrate, What! when distress stalks grimly through the land, Grandes rhombi patinæque Grande ferunt unà cum damno dedecus. Adde Divitiasque habeo tribus amplas regibus." Ergo Uni nimirum tibi rectè semper erunt res?—Sat. lib. ii. 2. THE WRONGS OF HANOVER.* "Il ne faut qu'un homme-un signal; les éléments d'une revolution sont tout prêts. Qui commencera - - - - - - ì Dés qu'il y aura un point d'appui, tout s'ébranlera." NAPOLEON. THE admirer of the feudal system, if such a man exist, should turn his eye to Germany, and compare the character of its people with the nature and tendency of their social institutions. Let him examine the actual state of the empire, and afterwards speculate upon what such a country might have been under happier auspices. This fine section of Europe has never known the blessings of territorial unity and political strength. The Romans profited by its divisions, so did the Franks in the fifth century, so did Charlemagne in the eighth. In an old book found in the Abbey of Niedermünster at Ratisbon, were these words, "Carolus primus Cæsar Germanicum Imperium suâ virtute, Sanguineque acquisivit,”—The first Charles won Germany by his bravery and blood. This is true, and it is also true that, in conformity with the usage of the age, he parcelled out his conquests among his camp retainers. Charlemagne possessed and exercised the power of conferring the regal dignity, which, according to historical instances, might either be granted fully and permanently, or accompanied by the ordinary feudal conditions; subordinate offices, with their honours and emoluments, were resumable at the imperial pleasure. To Dukes were entrusted extensive provincial government, high military command, and the principal administration of justice; the Counts, Comites, or companions, were their assistants, and frequently their vice-gerents. CountsPalatine, that is of the Emperor's palace-Palsgraves-were the most exalted of their order. The Counts of the provinces were Landgraves,-of the towns, Burgraves. The Margraves or Marquisses executed duties similar to our ancient Wardens of the Marches. Originally none of these titles, from the Duke to the Burgrave, implied any independent or hereditary power in those upon whom they were bestowed. A Margrave of Brandenburg, in the primitive times of the empire, had no greater claim to absolute sovereign authority than his Majesty's Lieutenant for Ireland has now. But the supremacy of the sword was to be maintained over many tribes and nations uncongenial in their habits, and impatient of the yoke. Wars arose abroad and dissensions at home; rival competitors for the imperial crown purchased the adhesion of the temporary holders of military sway by the gift of substantial privileges; the master relinquished his magisterial functions to the servant. Ecclesiastical dignitaries emulated their lay brethren in the struggle for aggrandizement. Before the sceptre had passed from the line of Carolus Magnus, the throne which he had filled by virtue of his sagacity and valour, was attainable only through the suffrages of men whose ancestors were proud of being the veriest shadows of his grandeur. The elective powers were first assumed by the general assembly of the states of the empire. As certain members of the confederacy waxed in importance, the exercise of these princely privileges became restricted to a few. The Impeachment of the Ministry of Count Münster before the Bar of Public Opinion. (This document was suppressed by the Hanoverian government. A manuscript copy was forwarded to us from Osnabrück, and we intended to have published its averments at length, had we not been anticipated by the Times Newspaper.-Ed. E. M.] Popes of Rome attempted to reverse their early position relative to the temporal head of Christendom, and not content with insisting on the right of spiritual investiture, alleged that to elevate or depose the Emperor at will was their ancient prerogative. Their pretensions were scouted by the German magnates, whose ranks were fortified against the assaults of excited superstition, by the presence and co-operation of a dignified clergy almost as potential as the "Infallible" himself. Louis IV., the last of the monarchs of the race of Charlemagne, died in 912. Otho, of Saxony, having declined the honours which awaited his acceptance, the choice, by a majority of votes, fell upon Conrad, Duke of Franconia and Hesse. During the period that elapsed between the accession of Conrad and the election of Rodolph of Hapsburgh, in 1273, especially during the turbulent interregnum which followed the demise of William of Holland, the imperial dignity dwindled into insignificance, while the free cities and great feudatories extended their encroachments to the unequivocal assumption of the most cherished characteristics of royalty. The troubles of a federal state, in which above three hundred sovereign princes, with endless sub-divisions of their authority, prosecuted petty animosities, and practised the lowest spoliations, called for the establishment of effective tribunals. The empire was divided into ten circles, to each of which belonged a provincial jurisdiction. An imperial chamber was instituted, and its judges were empowered to adjust whatever differences might arise between the members of the Germanic body. If the subjects of the Emperor had forgotten their allegiance, the forms of feudal government at least were publicly recognized. The decrees of the Diet at Ratisbon, passed under the imperial sanction, were ordinances which all the vassals were bound to ratify and enforce. In 1138, when the princes assembled at Coblentz to elect a chief, they deputed seven from among them to collect the suffrages of the assemblies, and to choose the most worthy of the nominated candidates. These seven were selected on account of the superior magnitude of their resources. They were composed of three archbishops, a king, a duke, a marquis, and a count. The hereditary possession of extensive territories, and of the great offices of state, eventually threw the whole electoral power into the hands of a college of this number. The members were the Archbishop of Mentz, Arch-Chancellor of the German empire; the Archbishop of Treves, Arch-Chancellor in Gaul and Arles; the Archbishop of Cologne, Arch-Chancellor in Italy; the King of Bohemia, ArchCup-bearer; the Palatine, Arch-Sewer; the Duke of Saxony, Arch-Marshal; the Margrave of Brandenburg, Arch-Chamberlain. They were formally acknowledged in 1338, and chartered in 1378, by the statute called (from the seal appended to the document) the Golden Bull. An eighth electorate was created at the peace of Westphalia, to compensate the Palatine for his rights transferred to Bavaria. and During the war between Leopold I. and France, at the close of the seventeenth century, Ernest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick, and Administrator of Osnabrück, father of George I., had been paid a considerable sum of money, on condition of aiding the French monarch with ten thousand troops. The Emperor, aware of the engagement, and anxious to prevent the junction of these forces with the enemy, proposed to create a ninth electorate in favour of the Duke, provided he brought his levies to the imperial banner. The degrading offer was accepted, and the envoys of Brunswick Lüneburg received the electoral cap-the symbol of their master's dishonour-at Vienna, on the 19th of December, 1692. From the opposition of the college and princes, Ernest was never more than nominally an elector; and even his son's recognition was with difficulty accomplished, in 1710. It was in connexion with this new dignity that Hanover, a name till then applied only to a principal and almost independent city of the dukedom of Brunswick, became known in the list of European sovereignties. George I was proclaimed King of Great Britain in 1714. Since that period the continental influence of England has materially contributed to the enlargement of the electorate. The French Revolution, so fruitful in change, operated with particular force upon Germany. In 1801, the King of Prussia invaded and occupied Hanover. It was overrun by Buonaparte in 1803, was ceded by him to the Prussians in 1806, and in 1810 was partitioned between the kingdom of Westphalia and France. The constitution of the German empire underwent a complete and permanent change in 1806. Sixteen princes, under the Protectorate of Napoleon, formed the Confederation of the Rhine; and Francis II. abdicated the imperial dignity, which, after an existence of one thousand years, disappeared for ever. There had been various fluctuations in the number of the electorates; old ones annihilated, as Cologne, Mentz, and Treves; and new ones created, as Baden, Würtemberg, Hesse Cassel, and Salzburg: but on the resignation of the chief they were all reduced to a dead letter. After the final triumph of the Allies over France, the relations of the empire were again remodified. Such of the members of the Rhenish Confederation as had adhered to their Protector were mediatised; retaining in consequence only their patrimonial estates, with some subordinate branches of feudal emolument and jurisdiction, while they were stripped of the essential attributes of sovereignty. The Germanic Diet was reconstituted, and sixty-nine votes apportioned among seventeen members according to their respective degrees of political importance. The States entitled to send representatives to the Diet, rank in the following order:-Austria-Prussia-Bavaria-Kingdom of Saxony -Hanover, which has four votes-Wurtemberg-Baden-Electorate of HesseGrand Duchy of Hesse-Denmark for Holstein and Lauenburg-Netherlandsfor Luxemburg-Grand Ducal and Ducal Houses of Saxony-Brunswick and Nassau-Mecklenburgh-Schwerin and Strelitz-Oldenburg, Anhalt_and Schwartzburg-Hohenzollern, Lichtenstein, Reuss, Schaumburg-Lippe, Lippe and Waldeck, with the free towns of Lübeck, Frankfort, Bremen and Hamburgh. Though a host of petty interests have been consolidated, there is still more than enough of separation among a people divided by no remarkable localities, and numbering altogether little more than thirty millions of souls. By the stipulations of the Congress of Vienna, Hanover was erected into a kingdom, with considerable territorial additions. On the accession of George I. to his family dominions, he ruled over 2,120 square geographical miles, with 354,000 inhabitants. He inherited the Duchy of Lüneburg on the death of his uncle in 1705, and in 1715 purchased the Duchies of Bremen and Verden from Denmark and Sweden, for £140,000. Bentheim, the last acquisition, until the conclusion of the late war, was taken in pawn for a sum of money in 1753. The Elector had also the alternate sovereignty of the Bishopric of Osnabrück. At present Hanover contains 11,045 square geographical miles. It gained by the arrangements of 1814 a territorial increase amounting to a fourth of its extent previous to its occupation by the French, and an addition of more than a half to its former population. To punish Saxony for the adhesion of its monarch to Buonaparte, its proportions were mercilessly curtailed, and the disunited fragments made over to Prussia, who, to quiet the scruples of England, transferred East Friesland, Embden, Hildesheim, and other districts to Hanover. Osnabrück was likewise consigned to her in full sovereignty. The population of Hanover may be computed at about 1,700,000, of which probably 950,000 are Protestants, 160,000 Catholics, and 6,500 Jews. Religious liberty was established by a royal ordinance in September, 1824. A German traveller, writing in 1828, says that there are only eight cities in the |